My life has been about victories. I’ve won a lot. I win a lot. I win – when I do something, I win. And even in sports, I always won. I was always a good athlete. And I always won. In golf, I’ve won many club championships. Many, many club championships. And I have people that can play golf great, but they can’t win under pressure.

So I’ve always won.”

Donald Trump

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“Donald Trump cannot possibly understand [Geneva] because he has neither the experience, the expertise or the moral compass to grasp it,” Geneva is “a fundamental moral and tactical construct that serves as a foundation for the law of armed conflict, because all wars, including the global war on terror, come to an end.

We as a community of nations need to engage with one another and not be separated by horrible, immoral treatment of one side over another.”

——

Steve Kleinman

air force reserve colonel and an interrogations expert

===

Well. I almost called this “whatever serves your purpose.”It seems like every day we talk about winning and, yet, we don’t really spend a shitload of time talking about how we will go about winning.

Donald J. Trump has made me think a lot, like A LOT, about winning and how you conduct yourself in gaining wins .in light of the fact that not everyone conducts themselves the same.

Ah. Conduct.

Yeah. There are some basic human driven rules which 99% of people have imprinted on their attitudes & beliefs that affect their behavior & conduct, but, beyond that, the way you play the game can be dictated by who you are, where you live, who you are playing against and a variety of emotional <and Maslow> triggers.

Now. Today, in discussing conduct, I am not talking about what you say or being ‘political correct’ <which may be the most bastardized discussed concept in this particular point in history> but rather I am speaking of conduct as things like “well, if they chop off heads and we do not doesn’t that give them an edge … so …” … or … “if they are breaking the rules maybe we should relook at the rules <or how we play despite the rules>.”

Those kind of things.

Now. While Trump is a horrible little man ethically <amoral in fact>, he is bringing to the forefront a topic which should be discussed at a national level all the way down to the kitchen table level. This is a discussion about who we are as a country and the identity of America exceptionalism.

I say that because how you play the game matters <especially with regard to character>.

To be clear. Outcomes do matter, but inevitably you get judged or measured on both the outcome AND how you attained that outcome. With Trump blustering about ‘winning’ — maybe we have lost sight of that.

So let’s discuss the ‘how we play’ part. And, yes, this is a discussion because it is not as simple as playing by the rules versus cheating — surprisingly there is a lot of room in-between those lines.

====

“When people cheat in any arena, they diminish themselves – they threaten their own self-esteem and their relationships with others by undermining the trust they have in their ability to succeed and in their ability to be true.”

Cheryl Hughes

===

I will begin in a less than obvious place … truth & lies <and bullshit>.

Yale philosopher Harry Frankfurt outlined in “On Bullsh*t” that there is a difference between BS-ers and liars:

Liars respect the truth, because they must know what it is in order to effectively conceal it. BS-ers are different, in that “truth” is simply not a useful category to them. Any belief is “true” if it serves, if it is convenient. BS-ers have no coherent theory of evidence or of inference, have no need for such things, are contemptuous of reason. In this sense, they are much more corrupting of discourse than liars.

In other words, in order to win, the “truth”, to a bullshitter, will become whatever serves the purpose. I believe this also bleeds into “rules” <which are a version of truths>. I brought that up because I stated upfront almost everyone of us inevitably gets judged by how we got the win, not just the win and of itself. Therefore, I would suggest while outcomes/wins matter we should understand that how you play the game either diminishes you or increases you as a person.

Yes. In today’s world we actually get judged on both aspects … not just one or the other. This leads me to point out that we then get trapped in a personal tug of war — a ‘win at any cost’ attitude is the ultimate reflection of a “respect is about winning” attitude where there is such an emphasis on ‘the win’ we get pulled one way — away from always playing the game “right” and lets the ‘chips fall as they may’.

This is our wretched tug of war.

Winning is absolutely good, but the true essence of sportsmanship is something more than merely getting the most points on the board.

Getting good grades is important but not if it requires cheating.

Getting a promotion is good but not if you do so at the expense of another person.

This is hard stuff. But, if it helps, remember:

How many people do you respect that whine their way to victory?

How many people do you truly respect who has cut corners or ‘won on some technicality’?

I would suggest the notion that ‘winning is the highest value’ runs counter to most usual definitions of heroism, decency and good character. Think about:

Atticus Finch is the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird even though he loses.

Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero but his true victory, while living, was in the attempt.

Ned Stark in Game of Thrones is a hero even though he gets his head chopped off.

Even in business winning isn’t everything. Integrity matters. Integrity matters in business because every sane business leader knows you cannot win every time and your employees need to be able to seize upon ‘something’ to get up and go after the next “what’s next.”

Think about this in a comparison way, while Trump defends his any-means-necessary approach to winning & making as much money as he can <as if that is the only meaningful measure of business greatness>, I could point out many business people who are far richer than Trump who have played the game within the rules with integrity & dignity.

But while I would love to continue to point out the hollowness of The Donald this is, more importantly, about America.

I would argue that in order to have a better America, and a better world, that thinking about ‘how we play the game’ very quickly becomes a metaphorical and reality ethical exercise.

Uhm. As I typed that I made a note to google ethical game theory:

——————

An ethical game is usually not the kind of game that lets us replay a dichotomy of good and evil and, in worst case, denies us to judge between right and wrong. An ethical game design takes the player seriously as an individual with an ethical reasoning developed appropriate to their age, leaving it up to them to make a decision.

For this reason, an ethical game is also in no way a game that treats its players as »moral infants«. It presents the player with ethical challenges just as it poses motoric, exploratory, strategic or logical challenges. Purely abstract game mechanics can’t create an ethical aspect. Ethical challenges can only be generated through portraying them in the game world (and particularly through the story) – and through the medial interaction of the player with it.

Conversely, however, an ethical challenge can create game mechanics, which are never abstract, but result from the conflict in the player’s mind as a very specific challenge in the game world.

————————

Well. When I read that I immediately thought it paralleled what I believe is what we everyday schmucks do, and face, every frickin’ day. The game of life, and business, constantly adjusts to the skill of the players involved. And as reality adjusts those playing get better and better. And, yet, the constant adjusting also demands the players to improve their skills. That demands work. I say that because, uh oh, that is where “rules” truly get challenged.

Work. Yikes. Rather than put in the work to improve the skills to win … uhm … some players ‘do whatever it takes’ or use ‘whatever serves the purpose’ to win. In other words they ‘park’ ethical reasoning somewhere and focus solely on ‘the win.’

This is America in a nutshell. While Life is lived and challenges are met some players’ ethics get nurtured while other players shelve ethical growth so as not … well … not lose. It is here that I would point out this is exactly what Trump is advocating: not losing’ rather than ‘winning.’

Think about it.

Not losing, as an objective, basically makes winning a morally empty principle. The win itself is the glory … and we spend little focus on how you played the game <because the glory resides in the outcome>.

Let me be clear. This can be an attractive thought to most of us everyday schmucks.

Anyone in today’s world, in the daily & weekly grind focusing on all the challenges facing us and mentally taking each obstacle & challenge and, in addition, permitting each to take on a life of its own … could quite easily begin to think everything was going in the wrong direction … in other words … we were losing <and the wins are difficult to see>.

And that mental ‘loser’ hole gets a little deeper if you believe you have been working hard and ‘playing the game hard’ and doing all the right things the right way. And in that moment … in that hole … in that moment in which you are tired of working so hard and not seeing any clear cut victories, you start edging in to “so what will it take for me/us to finally win” <and get out of his loser hole>.

Uh oh. The slippery slope of ‘how you play the game matters’ looms in front of you.

Let me be absolutely clear on this. It is hard, even for the most principled person, to not think about stepping on this slope. Especially when you have someone like Trump shining a spotlight on your thoughts with regard to the ‘loser hole’ and offering a “let’s start winning” again message <with no rules on how to go about getting the win>.

Anyway. Here is what I think.

Trump has seized a moment and offered a ride on a fairly attractive slippery slope. For years, in our culture, America <society> has been in conflict with regard to winning.

Winning is everything versus everyone is a winner.

Conflict 1:Winners get demonized by their win at any cost attitude <and celebrated to the same time>.

Conflict 2:Participants get demonized by their inability to win <and yet celebrated by the victory in the attempt>.

You cannot, well, win.

This conflict is exacerbated by generational conflict. Conceptually the former <winning is everything> is owned by the older generations and the latter <everyone who participates in the game wins> is owned by the younger generations.

The old see their version of winning being marginalized and at exactly the same time they see overall larger country and economic results lagging <or in their eyes … “the country isgoing the way of the loser shithole”>. Therefore, to those people, anyone who dares reject the rules of their game, especially if they do not win, are double losers because they were not smart enough to “do anything it takes to win because winning is everything” we need to get out of this frickin’ loser shithole we are in.

This is where someone like Trump can look attractive to some people. It is like hiring a new coach who looks like he is someone prepared to defy conventions – this creates some exhilaration in the fan base.

“fuck yeah … it’s about time.”

It signals the arrival of a maverick outsider who is not just going to shake things up, but is prepared to destroy to create.

That sounds good.

Well. It is good as long as it is within the rules of the game and by ‘rules’ I mean the true construct of playing the game <Geneva Convention offers specific rules and, of course, there is something called the Constitution and things called ‘laws’ and every sport organization has codes, rules and penalties> as well as the integrity of playing the game.

I admit. I am a ‘play by the rules guy.’And, I admit, Trump’s attitude irks me as a business guy. Here is what I know from a business guy perspective <and I believe it is relevant to America in general>.

Give me the construct, give me the box to play within, and I can be creative enough WITHIN the box to beat anyone. I wrote this in 2015:

This may sound odd <especially to someone like Trump> but true creativity, innovation and disruption is found within the box and not out of the box. Out of the box is most often impractical, not realistic long term and ultimately pales when placed next to ethical principles.

I would also note that winning within the box is maybe the most satisfying feeling in the world.

In the end.

How you win matters. And changing the rules simply to ‘win’ loses sight of what is really important – not the win itself but the principled effort you took to gain the win.

And if that doesn’t convince you, remember, rules represent:

“a fundamental moral and tactical construct that serves as a foundation for the law of conflict, because all conflict comes to an end. <and you have to live with yourself and what you have done>“

Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home.”

—–

Patch Adams

====================

Well. I had all these quotes and I didn’t know what to do with them until I saw the image at the opening of this post: “They say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I’m not leaving maybe I’m going home.”

I have often wondered why many of us are so restless. We seek things, and travel places looking for ‘something’ and dream dreams. This doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy what we have nor does it mean we don’t accept reality. It just means that there is always an undercurrent of change or “what ifs” or “what could be’s” underneath the surface of our Life. At the same time we are sailing through Life seeking some place we can land which we can not only call home, but actually feels like home.

And maybe that is where the line “home is where you hang your hat’ comes into play. In its simplicity it is actually suggesting that it really isn’t your hat that matters it is when you accept that you can be who you are and that ‘who’ is all you can be that you have found home. And while Thérèse was really suggesting that the material world was simply your journey and heaven, or God, is your destination the overall thought is truer than true.

Whether you believe in something bigger than you or simply believe there is something bigger within you, you should seek the stars within you to guide you to it all — not some external place or location which may appear to fulfill some aspect of ‘home.’

Your dreams, wishes and … yes … the starlight to guide you in the darkness of not knowing what to do, where to go and how to get thru whatever it is you are going thru … is all within you.

Your home resides within you.

You are simply looking for a place to … well … place your home that feels right and true. That place is unseen. That place is not really one place <it can actually be many places>.

Here comes the hard part.

Life will not give you any signposts and most of Life will constantly change your direction unseen in the undercurrents of Life.

============

“In the short voyage of a lifetime, we can see the eddies and ripples on the surface, but not the undercurrents changing the main channel of the stream. “

Thomas Mellon

=============

This all suggests you are in control and you are not in control.

Just ponder the fact we often stand upon the deck of our ship admiring the horizon and enjoying the travel & journey only to have some Life undercurrent disrupt our complacency and some version of ‘living Life laziness’ <i.e., if you’re not careful and become actively involved in Life, Life will actively involve itself in your Life>.

This simply reminds us that circumstances beyond our control often disrupt the illusion of what we have, who we are and where we are.

The unseen undercurrent constantly nudges our mind with questions:

What is our purpose?

How can we take control of so many things out of our control?

How do we reconcile the vastness Life offers us … reconcile the bigness that can often appear within reach … and reconcile our desire to be worthy of Life … reconcile it all against the smallness that is us in the roiling sea on which our ship sails?

Will we ever satisfy our dreams for what could be & what we could be?

Meaningful or meaningless?

We struggle with these questions. And all the while we avoid the questions under the guise of “seeking home.’

Ah. Shit.

Suffice it to say, home is not anything physical, it actually resides in the infinite. As a corollary, this would presume if you accept its infiniteness you should be able to see it also has the potential to be infinitely good.

I believe we inherently know this and inherently know that only ‘home’ will truly satisfy us. And that search, that journey, is the satisfaction. I imagine the unfortunate, uncomfortable, truth is the odds are we will never truly find some ‘home’ in which we can live our entire lives.

“We don’t own nothin’, we just borrow it. When you die, another man moves in and your daughter calls him daddy. Death is the tax a soul has to pay to have a name and a form.“

———-

Muhammed Ali

========================

Muhammed Ali has died … and I feel like a little oxygen has been sucked out of the atmosphere.

We don’t own nothin’.

That is a Life attitude that could drive a person to greatness. An attitude that says today is temporary and tomorrow I gotta get up and start all over and prove myself one more time.

To me … that summarizes Muhammed Ali.

He was a complicated puzzle to me.

Why?

He wasn’t satisfied to be just a boxer.

He offered none of the humility most of us expect of athletes.

He wasn’t just a great athlete … he was casual competing in his greatness.

And above it all there were personal things bigger than what happened in the ring.

The Ali look.

The Ali rules of life. <As Cassius Clay said “I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be who I want.”>

The Ali words and wordsmithing.

The Ali brashness.

The Ali aura.

He never relinquished his right to living life his way.

Did I like it all the time?

Nope.

I disliked the brashness.

But I loved the casual athletic greatness.

And I admired the sense of self … and his stubbornness with regard to maintaining his ‘self’ as society did its best to squeeze it into on existence and be reshaped into what everyone expected greatness to be.

He refused to be defined as it was defined and steadfastly suggested … no … demanded … that he be judged on his own terms.

Was it easy? Nope.

Not on him.

And not on us.

Many of us … me included … balked.

But you know what? In the end he taught me to view greatness differently … and for that I owe him a debt. I owe anyone who can make me see something differently … especially something like ‘greatness.’

That said.

When people say he was the greatest … I don’t agree.

I believe he redefined greatness.

I believe he redefined how generations would view greatness for … well … generations to come.

In fact.

Rethinking what I just wrote … I believe he didn’t just redefine … he destroyed how greatness was defined and created it using himself as the image.

He didn’t own greatness … he defined it. And that said … he did it within his overall attitude … “we got nothin’.”

And, yet, when I saw he died … I felt like I had lost something.

A little oxygen got sucked out of Life.

Why do I say something like that?

I was fortunate enough to be sitting in a restaurant in Los Angeles in the 90’s when Muhammed Ali walked thru to a private room in the back of the restaurant.

Even though no one knew who or what was happening before he arrived … I vividly remember a slight buzz overcoming the main dining room minutes before he appeared.

I vividly remember him gliding thru the room in an impeccable suit surrounded by large men in impeccable suits … but mostly I remember how it felt.

It felt like his presence sucked a little oxygen out of the room. It’s like his presence demanded a little bit more than the rest of us.

I haven’t written any enlightening sports news for a while and decided because the ‘old’ San Antonio Spurs take the court for game 6 of the NBA finals … as well as I just watched the absolutely horrendous baseball movie, For the Love of the Game, <which I watch over and over again regardless of its badness>.

Therefore this post is dedicated to the movie and … well … some thoughts on the love of the game and older athletes.

And by ‘the game’ I mean sports in general.

I love sports. Yes. Love. And while I love sports as a game … I also love it as a microcosm of Life. Sports, and it’s athletes, if you pay attention … can be reflective on some really important things in Life.

Plus. I am allowed to be reflective as I am an old guy who loves sports.

Now.

This is not going to be one of those painful nostalgic pieces discussing ‘what happened to the good ole days in sports’ but rather this is going to be a nod to the old guys in sports and some appreciation.

Here is the main thought in a nutshell.

Invincibility versus appreciation. Invincibility in the moment versus appreciation of the moment.

Young athletes play the game as if they are invincible … and treat themselves as invincible within the moment.

<and incredibly fun & spectacular to watch>

Older athletes play the game with appreciation … and treat ‘the moment’ with appreciation.

<and incredibly fun & thoughtful to watch>

I imagine I could also write about this same philosophical distinction in the workplace but I will stick with sports because … for some reason … we have a slew of spectacular older athletes who we should appreciate.

Let me begin with some big names.

David Beckham, Kobe and Ray Lewis are perfect examples of a portion of what I believe is spectacular about the great older athletes.

All three are, or were, spectacular in their respective sport … but I mention them because they were all punks <or punkish> with a swagger of invincibility in youth. There was no doubt they loved the game they played … and respected it even in their youth … and have grown into a wonderful sense of maturity <within an ongoing fire of competitiveness>.

I am not sure I could have ever imagined these three becoming ambassadors for their respective games as I watched their spectacular talent blossom as they began their careers.

They all played with a brilliant invincibility.

They have all matured with appreciation.

And they all certainly have mastered an appreciation of the moment.

Okay. That said.

Some thoughts on invincibility & appreciation and sports.

for the love of the game <the movie>

It is a godawful movie with a spectacular movie hidden within it.

Put me in an edit suite with the original movie and I bet I could walk out with one of the best sports movies of all time <at maybe half the length of the original>.

Kevin Costner is perfectly cast as the aging pitcher and the premise of the last game is also perfect. It’s all the crap in between. Anyone who has played sports, particularly baseball, would love this movie if it had just focused on when a great athlete in their last days sparkles one last time. It is magical. It is why we love sports.

Because it captures present greatness and memories of greatness all at once.

Because it captures the true essence of an older athlete’s appreciation of the moment and the game.

My only advice? Just go to the bathroom a lot <during the crappy moments> and you will love this movie.

which reminds me … 1967 and today

In 1967 Carl Yastremski won baseball’s last triple crown.

I would like to now point out that it now 45 years later. And Miguel Cabrera did it <last season>. Oh. And he is still putting up amazing numbers this season and could very well get close to winning a second.

From 1920 to 1967, there were eleven Triple Crown winners in baseball, and a whole bunch of famous near misses.

In 1949, Ted Williams’ .343 average was just the tiniest bit behind George Kell’s .343 average, those percentage points costing him a third Triple Crown.

In 1948, Stan Musial finished just one home run shy of a Triple Crown.

Some thoughts on how tough it is to do what Cabrera did <and I am not sure has been truly appreciated>:

– The average league-leading batting average since 1968: .348

– The average league-leading home run title since 1968: 44

– The average league-leading RBI total since 1968: 129

So … how many players from 1920 to 1968 put up what you might call an “average Triple Crown season?” Fourteen.

Babe Ruth put up six of them, Jimmie Foxx put up three, Lou Gehrig put up three, Mickey Mantle and Hack Wilson put up one each <source: Joe Posnanski – sports on earth>.

Cabrera is a 30 year old Venezuelan who plays baseball with an appreciation of the game. I tip my hat to him.

the downside of invincibility

Playing with invincibility and being invincible are two separate things <unfortunately for many athletes>.

The sports world is strewn with “what could have beens.” I bring this up because Brian Harper of the Washington Senators. He is a hall of fame lock … if he makes it through his ‘invincible youth.’ There is no more talented player in major league baseball that plays with such recklessness and wild abandon than he.

That said … I have a name for you Pete Reiser.

He could run, hit for average <in his rookie year, he won the National League batting title with a .343 average>, and hit for power. In that rookie season at age 22, he also led the league in runs scored (117), doubles (39), triples (17), slugging percentage (.558), OPS (.968), and had an OPS+ of 169.

He banged out 14 home runs, too.

He was Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Albert Pujols all wrapped into one.

His defense was beyond reproach.

“There will never be a ballplayer as good as Willie Mays, but Reiser was every bit as good, and he might have been better. Pete Reiser might have been the best ballplayer I ever saw. He had more power that Willie. He could throw as good as Willie. Mays was fast, but Reiser was faster. Name whoever you want to, and Pete Reiser was faster. Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck.”– Leo Durocher

The play that basically ended Pete’s career came in 1942, when in the 13th inning of a 0-0 pitchers duel* between Whitlow Wyatt of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Mort Cooper of the St. Louis Cardinals, Reiser tried to chase down an Enos Slaughter drive to center field. He had it but ran full speed into the concrete wall, and the ball came loose. Reiser picked up the ball, threw it to Pee Wee Reese and they almost got Slaughter at home.

Reiser then collapsed on the field. He had a severe concussion and a fractured skull. How he threw that ball back to Reese is anybody’s guess.

That was the worst wall crash, but it was not the only one. He was carted off the field 11 times in his career, and was once given last rites at the stadium. – Bleacher Report

A player of truly exceptional talent had a career curtailed by injury and a ‘succeed at all costs I am invincible’ playing style.

I could name a bunch of exceptional athletes who, because of their playing style, became ‘vincible’ and never had the opportunity to become the older athlete who played the game with appreciation instead of invincibility.

The second name I have for you? Duncan Edwards.

I bring up Duncan only to suggest the spectacular older athletes have not only weaved their way through their sports lives safely … but also the random twists in Life itself.

Duncan Edwards was suggested as the greatest soccer <football> player ever.

But most don’t know him because he died at 21.

“Physically, he was enormous. He was strong and had a fantastic football brain. His ability was complete – right foot, left foot, long passing, short passing. He did everything instinctively.” –Bobby Charlton

An English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, and one of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster on Feb. 21 1958.

Matt Busby described Duncan Edwards as the most ‘complete footballer in Britain – possibly the world’. The greatest tragedy is that his death aged just 21 from injuries sustained in the Munich air crash meant his full potential was never realized <and yet he was considered the best of the best even at that time>. With boundless stamina, an all-encompassing range of passing and a truly ferocious shot, Edwards was a player who could control any game he played in.

<note: there are several fantastic books on the Busby Babes as well as Bobby Charlton’s biography is fantastic>

My point?

Invincibility is fickle.

These old guys, these spectacular older athletes, have not only weaved their way through their sports lives safely … physically… but also the random twists in Life itself.

the upside of the appreciation for the moment

I will begin with Kobe Bryant.

Boy … if you want to pick a youngster with swagger & invincibility you couldn’t do better than the 18 year old Kobe version.

But he has become ‘vincible.’

And at the same time he has shown grace and appreciation for the game. I once asked on this site in a post how people will be, and should be, judged. By the indiscretions of their youth or by the discretion of that which is found in maturity.

In the past year we are being faced this question in spades with Ray Lewis and Kobe Bryant.

Me?

As an old guy myself … and recognizing that I am quite happy I have had some time to manage my legacy with time & maturity … I recognize that athletes are no different than non athletes in that we all mature. What we do with that maturity is the measure of the person.

Three more oldster names who are nearing the end.

And three who have never been punks or arrogant <in the over the top swagger way>.

Mariano Rivera & Derek Jeter & Roger Federer.

Oh my.

Mariano & Derek and baseball..

One team <the Yankees> and two of the greatest ambassadors the game of baseball has ever had.

Quiet leaders who day in and day out did their thing … and I do not believe we have ever doubted their appreciation for the game … and their own appreciation of the talent they had <without all the braggadocio>.

We should appreciate these two while we have the opportunity.

They have always appreciated “the” moments … the moments that make or break the individual games … but as elder statesman I believe they appreciate it all now. Always class acts … they treated the game with class.

Whew.

Roger.

Effortless grace on the tennis court. I have seen bigger stronger faster whateverer athletes in my lifetime … but I am not sure I have ever seen such effortlessly looking spectacularness athleticism anywhere before or since. His time on the courts is getting shorter but one thing I believe we can all be sure of … he will seize the moment and appreciate it when his time comes.

Lastly. The NBA final three oldster athletes for the Spurs.

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli & Tony Parker.

An American, a Spaniard and a Frenchman.

All taking the court tonight against this generation’s version of ‘showtime.’ The old men will make it ‘slowtime’ and do what they do so well … they play the game with an appreciation for the moment.

An appreciation physically and mentally.

Tim and Manu know that their bodies physically are not what they once were. That doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive nor does it mean they ‘quit’ or take a break even while playing.

They have simply become smarter about when to expend energy <metal appreciation> and how to expend energy <physical appreciation>.

Once again.

I just wanted to name a few athletes nearing the end of their careers because the Spurs ‘oldsters’ reminded me we sports fans are living at a special time.

Anyway. In the end.

In a way … sports is cruel to athletes. Just as their minds mature … their bodies disappoint them. If an athlete is lucky they can play into their mid-30’s … then it’s over.

They are then required to begin a second career … and second life. To begin a second life where in the first you were invincible … and appreciative.

Regardless.

The greatest of the great older athletes rise up once in a while just to remind us of what we saw all the time.

And we should appreciate it for what it is … an older athlete appreciating the moment and rising up one more time.

All these athletes make me love the game even more … well … maybe better said … they make me appreciate the game.